RSM Resources

So, you’ve got a comprehensive, frequently updated corporate Web site. You think your midsized company does a pretty good job of leveraging Internet technology to its fullest. You may want to think again.

While Web sites are hardly passe, the real buzz these days among corporate communications and marketing strategists involves what pundits have dubbed the "new" Internet — tools and technologies that are revolutionizing how companies think about communication, collaboration, business transparency and information gathering. Even if you are not ready to join the revolution, experts advise at least tracking its movements, lest you be taken unaware or unprepared.

What’s new about the "new" Internet?
The new Internet is actually something of a misnomer, because what really is new is how companies are using existing technology in exciting and innovative ways. Regardless, here are a few terms and concepts you’ll need to know before you can begin to evaluate whether new is good for your midsized company.

Weblogs (a.k.a. "blogs"). Simply put, a blog is an online journal that others can view, comment on and link to from their own Web sites or blogs, resulting in simultaneous, multi directional conversation and communication. CEOs and other company officials increasingly are using blog technology internally to quickly and easily communicate with their employees across locations, and externally to converse with customers, vendors and the world.

Blogs already have begun transforming the face of Internet communication and show no signs of slowing. The blog tracking service Technorati catalogued 19.6 million weblogs in the "blogosphere" as of October 2005. Technorati also reported that the number of weblogs continues to double about every five months, with about 70,000 new blogs created every day.

Technology guru John Patrick — dubbed the "Father of the Internet at IBM" by industry analysts — says blogging is not only as exciting as the industry hype makes it out to be, it is nearly at a place where the reality will exceed the hype.

In a recent personal blog entry, Patrick wrote, "Blogging has now entered the phase where it is in the category of fundamental technology — one that is enormously profound and is altering how information is documented, distributed, syndicated and archived."

Anyone can create a blog, but each day, more and more CEOs are choosing blogs as an effective communication tool and a potentially savvy corporate marketing tactic.

Blogs enable CEOs and other executives to "tell it like it is, avoid endless rounds of editing and approvals,develop a distinctive writing voice and style, and still generate leads,attract media attention and brand your company or organization as a thought leader," according to Debbie Weil, author of the Beginner’s Guide to Business Blogging and the creator of BlogWrite for CEOs,a Web site and related blog designed to help CEOs learn to blog effectively.

Blogging requires no special technical expertise or financial investment. Most blogging software is either free or available for a nominal fee. Choose your software based on whether you require your blog to be hosted on your own server or on that of a third party. Popular blogging software includes:

• TypePad (hosted, small monthly charge)
• MovableType (nonhosted, small licensing fee)
• WordPress (free, open source)

One word of caution: Experts advise that even if you aren’t ready to begin your own corporate blog, make sure you monitor the blogosphere to determine what others are saying about you and your company. Officials at the Kryptonite Bike Lock Co. learned that lesson the hard way in2004 when someone posted an online video demonstrating how to pick one of the company’s locks with a pen. Kryptonite officials failed to respond to the video or to the flurry of bloggers’ comments and questions that followed. Only when The New York Times covered the story several days later did Kryptonite officials realize they were embroiled in a public relations nightmare.

RSS feeds
While you don’t need any special tools to read a blog, staying current with the ever-changing content of multiple blogs and Internet news sites can be daunting. Enter RSS, which stands for "real simple syndication." RSS is a technology format that enables you to create a customized Web site that displays content from a variety of sources and automatically updates itself as the source materials change. You need an RSS reader to take advantage of RSS technology, but readers are either free or available for a minimal fee. Some of the most common readers are:

• NewsGator Online (free)
• Bloglines (free)
• FeedDemon (minimal fee)
• NetNewsWire (for Macs)

Wiki pages
Wiki pages are another new technology changing the way midsized companies approach the Internet. At its most basic, a Wiki is a Web page with an edit button that enables others to change its content. The term "Wiki" gets its name from the online encyclopedia Wikipedia, which in turn gets its name from the Hawaiian word "wiki," meaning "quick,fast" or "to hasten." Wikipedia is the most prominent example of Wiki pages in action. Billing itself as "the free encyclopedia that anyone can edit," Wikipedia boasts more than 800,000 entries on a myriad of topics.

Technology-savvy companies have seized upon Wiki pages as a quick, easy and cost-effective way to collaborate on documents,solicit feedback or brainstorm ideas. For a minimal hosting fee, companies can greatly reduce the editing and consolidation hassles of using e-mail to exchange edits and ideas.

Getting in the game
If you think your company might benefit from one or all of these new Internet technologies, consider the following strategies:

Survey the field. While the technology may be relatively new, plenty of examples are online. Take a look at what your competitors and other companies have done and determine what you think works and doesn’t work before you begin.

Start internally. Try blogging or Wiki collaboration internally before branching into the world. Start small and make sure you’re ready to expand.

Be prepared to lose "spin" control. It’s difficult to control information spin once it enters the blogosphere. While business transparency can be a powerful tool, it also can be unpredictable. Make sure you really are ready to receive input from everybody, including your competitors, before you take the plunge.

Start blogging, keep blogging. Blogging doesn’t have to be a huge time drain, but if you start a blog, make sure you post regular, timely entries. Immediacy is blogging’s biggest benefit, and a blog that’s never updated may be worse than none at all.